With link rates of up to 12 Gigabits per second (Gbits/sec), establishing a connection between an initiator and an end device through an expander incurs a significant penalty. For example, the time penalty of establishing a connection (i.e., connection overhead penalty) can be as significant as the amount of time it takes to send associated data frames between the initiator and the end device. Additionally, this connection overhead penalty becomes more pronounced as the number of cascaded expanders increases in a topology.
Therefore, it would be desirable and advantageous to provide a method, system, and apparatus to reduce connection overhead penalties by extending or reusing existing open connections to end devices attached to remote expanders.